~CAIRO~

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EGYPT, STREETS OF CAIRO

~ THE ENERGIES	~ CAIRO	~ MEMPHIS, SAQQARA AND GIZA
~ ABU SIMBEL, ASWAN AND THE NILE		~ PHILAE, KOM OMBO AND EDFU
~ VALLEY OF THE KINGS, LUXOR AND KARNAK		~ ABYDOS AND DENDERA
~ MOUNT SINAI AND SAINT CATHERINE'S		~ BLACK, WHITE AND CRYSTAL DESERTS

When we first arrived in Egypt we were whisked away from the airport by our guide, a friend of one of our Sedona friends, and we had our first experiences on the roads of Cairo.  Our travel in several other countries had taught us awareness of alternate driving styles but that did not prepare us for Egyptian driving.  We had never seen anything like the streets of Cairo!

Almost every driver was male, usually with a cigarette either in his hand or his mouth, and it soon became obvious that whomever had the most balls on the road won.  The lane markers meant nothing… on two lane roads there were three cars and maybe a camel abreast, larger roads had as many cars and animals and people and carts and pedestrians as could possibly squeeze next to each other with an inch or so to spare.  It felt like being in a large, angry flock, and somehow all members of the group did seem to mysteriously communicate with each other. Americans would wither instantly in the face of this driving style.  It was every man for himself.

As signal lights were seldom present or were largely ignored, the only way to navigate traffic was to pull out directly in front of speeding vehicles.  In our minds, this meant an inevitable accident.  Somehow, though, this rarely happened.  Drivers passed one another indiscriminately, regardless of reason or oncoming traffic.  Going the wrong way on one-way streets was also quite a popular thing to do.  Strange gestures were exchanged between the drivers, as well as intense staring that implied daring.  It was a contact sport, and the plays were executed with competitive glee.

We luckily only experienced one fender bender the whole trip, and that left our guide screaming at the other driver, while we tried to hide in the back of our cab.  Our taxi driver seemed out of sync with the energy of the "flock" of other drivers. Near misses were constant.

We did later have one dangerously close call with a shattered windshield that I will write about at length when I describe our convoy trip to Abydos, where some of the most ancient Egyptian energies abide.  I had been given a warning about Abydos.  I definitely needed to face many of my fears and see them for what they were, as I was constantly exposed to aggressive male energy.